RWBY: A War of Four Maiden's
by sgtSkirata
Summary: The Maiden's have been making their mark on history even from the shadows. Taking place between seasons and the during the Great War, Team RWBY must follow the footsteps of the lost team WHAB to solve a mystery that has laid secret for hundreds of years. War has come to Vale but it isn't the first time. Starts between volume 1 and 2 of RWBY and will progress along with the series.
1. Chapter 1: Team WHAB

Chapter 1: Team WHAB

"Chop chop. We have 10 chapters of history to review and only an hour to do it. Everyone take your seats. We're a little low on space with three periods here today for the review session. Please try and get along and don't be afraid to sit on the steps and table tops if you have to." Bartholomew shouted, high on caffeine and his love for his profession. Everyone had been studying hard for the upcoming midterm but no one could honestly say they were ready. Even Weiss had her doubts.

Weiss was flipping through her notes like a mad woman as the rest of the students looked for a seat next to their friends.

"Let's see here, the Telos tribe settled south as the Atlantis tribe moved north but then the Braziers went east and the Ellen sailed west. So where in the world did the Forbes tribe go?!" Weiss demanded of her textbook.

"I wouldn't stress out about it Weiss. We didn't talk about the tribes in class much." Blake tried to explain.

"I still don't understand why St. Blanc left the order or why she was there in the first place!"

"St. Who?" Yang asked.

"Doesn't blanc mean white?" Ruby asked.

"Well that's a stupid name," Yang commented.

"My name means white in Atlesian, have a problem with that?" Weiss complained.

"People name their kids after color as a statement. Problem is I've never thought of the color white as a color. It's more like nothing to me." Yang teased.

"Well what about Black?" Weiss demanded thinking of Blake.

"Black is cool and mysterious. White on the other hand is just kind of there and you have to put up with it." Yang explained, progressively chuckling more and more as she spoke.

"You southerners just don't understand the importance of the color white," Weiss stated being proud of her home country of Atlas and what it could become.

"Hey Weiss?" Ruby asked.

"Yes, Ruby." Weiss asked having devoted her attention to her textbook.

"I'm really lost."

"What do you mean, in history? We've been studying together for a week straight. I must have made twenty pots of coffee the past few days." In Weiss' mind, coffee was the key to success.

"I thought I understood then, but I have no idea what all this stuff you're talking about is." Ruby had been working hard. Aside from being a great leader, it was her goal to show Weiss that she wasn't a slacker. That meant keeping her grades up as well.

"Don't worry Ruby," Blake assured her. "Weiss is obviously nervous too. We only covered the first tribes that one day, about a month ago. I'm sure most the test will be about the Great War. I'd be surpised if you even see a multiple choice question on it."

"That's what he wants you all to think!" Weiss hissed. "Last night I visited the upperclassmen dorms to ask some of the girls about Bartholomew's testing habits. Turns out his tests have the strangest questions."

"I have a lot of upper classmen friends," Yang mentioned. "I've only heard good things about the professor. Coco seemed to love his lectures and she's not even the good student type."

"I imagine your other friends are as carefree as Coco and you. I bet they don't even care about the horrific concept of getting a B."

"Uhm yeah, because they're not crazy," Yang mumbled.

"B's are a curse made by the forces of despair. They're worse than the Grim! They're meant to make you feel comfortable. You think they're a cushion for mistakes but they're the scourges of academics."

"You sound like a conspiracy theorist Weiss," Yang argued. "It's just a letter."

"Conspiracies aren't conspiracies if everyone knows about them, Yang. Bartholomew has a reputation for being ruthless."

"Greetings allies," said Pyrrha as she sat in one of the seats behind the team. The Lecture would be stating soon and she doubted she would get a seat up front with her team.

"Pyrrha, tell them. You were there when I asked team CFVY!" Weiss shouted. "They said Bartholomew is insane didn't they?!"

"Uhh?" Pyrrha wondered if she and Weiss had talked to the same people. "They did say that he puts a few hard questions in the mix to challenge you but hardly anything horri..."

"See Yang, Proof! The man is a maniac!"

"He's crazy because he puts a few trick questions?"

"Not crazy, I said Maniac."

"Blake, Pyrrha," Yang pleaded. "Tell her she's crazy."

"You might be a little stressed," Pyrrha replied kindly.

"Weiss, you're crazy." Blake answered bluntly, earning a giggle from Yang and a snort from Ruby. Blake was always quiet but whenever it came to teasing Weiss she was more than willing to participate. It was one of the few things that was garunteed to smile on the girls face. Even if it did push her classmate's selfesteem. Though, in her opinion, Weiss could do to be a bit more selfcouncious at times.

"You'll all see. When the test scores come in and you all have B's, or dare I say lower, you'll all know that your friend Weiss tried to warn you."

"Say what about what now?" said the carefree voice of a fashionable blue haired boy as he took the seat Weiss had been saving for him.

"Oh nothing Neptune I was just telling the girls how they shouldn't worry about the test so much." She said with a twinkle in her eye trying to seem composed.

"You two are so fake it's disgusting," Yang commented ignoring the wink and frown Neptune and Weiss gave her respectively.

At that moment Oobleck blew into his high pitched safari whistle to get everyone's attention.

"Before I start my review does anyone have questions of their own?" Bartholomew asked.

"Sir?" Weiss yelled out holding her hand up as high as she could. The whole room looked at her oddly.

"Oh my gosh you're embarrassing," Yang sighed burying her face in her hands.

"Yes Ms. Schnee."

"Why did St. Blanc leave the hunters order?"

"No one knows, next?" He said. Bartholomew was to the point as usual. He wanted to answer any questions as quickly as he could to get to his lecture.

"Sir?!" Weiss asked again.

"Yes Ms. Schnee?"

"Where did the lost tribe of Forbes go?"

"No one knows. That's why their lost, next?"

"Mr. Ooble..!"

"It's Professor or Doctor Ms. Schnee! Excuse me but does anyone have questions that are actually on the test?" Bartholomew asked ignoring Weiss. "This test is focused on the Great war so I'd like to focus our discussion on that."

Blake had a smug look on her face that spelled out _I told you so,_ to Weiss while the others giggled at their high strung partner.

"I have a question sir!" called out Nora sitting up front with Ren and Jaune.

"Go ahead Miss Valkyrie."

"What do jellied apples taste like?" She asked curiously.

"Have you ever had apples?" The professor asked a bit confused.

"Yeah!"

"Have you ever had Jelly?"

"Oh Yeah?"

"Then Imagine," he replied with a sigh.

"That sounds tasty!" Nora stated joyfully while Ren buried his head in his notes, embarrassed.

"Miss Valkyrie, I have to ask. Where did that question come from?" Bartholomew was a bit worried for the sanity of his student.

"Well, the other day we were talking about the battle of Patchy."

"Patch Sea," The professor corrected.

"Yeah that thing! Anyways you mentioned that both sides had to stop at ports to get fruit to jelly."

"Correct!" He mused realizing they were on topic now. "Do you know why they had to Jelly their food?"

"Cus it was tasty!" Nora stated with a grin.

"No doubt, but it was because they were low on food. The battle of Patch Sea was fought for 4 months and both sides were reaching the ends of their food supplies. The Valisien rebels set anchor right here in Vale and bought all the fruit the orchards had to offer. They had enough food to last the remaining two months of the battle but it would surely go bad within a few weeks. By jellying the fruit and putting it in jars they were able to keep a steady ration." Bartholomew couldn't help but notice that Cardin was ignoring him and playing with his Scroll. He quickly zipped behind the boy to look over his shoulder. "Age of Kingdoms II?"

"Waa!?" Cardin was shocked to see the professor right behind him and even more shocked to see his scroll in the Professor's hands instead of his own.

"I see you've conquered half the known world Cardin," Bartholomew sarcastically praised his student, ashamed to see that he was playing video games in class when his grades were so embarrassingly low all of a sudden. "Since you're such a great commander can you enlighten the class on what tactic Admiral Cimon used to win the battle of Patch?"

"Brute force," Cardin replied crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair before Bartholomew quickly zoomed away with his scroll. "Hey! That thing cost a lot of Lein."

"You can have it back at the end of the review session. Back to the subject, brute force almost never works in an even fight," he stated looking at the settings of Cardin's game wondering how someone like him would be able to excel in such a genre. "Oh, it seems like the tactic serves very well when you're playing on Novice Difficulty."

Jaune and some of the other students snickered.

"Mr. Arch," Bartholomew said scaring Jaune. "Can you tell me what tactic Cimon used?"

"Uhm?" Jaune mumbled unsure of himself.

"Need some help?" Ren whispered.

"No I'm pretty sure I got it," Ren was surprised to hear that. Then again not long ago he had seen Jaune studying hard back when he was ignoring everyone and hanging out with Cardin. "Pinging sir."

"Good job Jaune!" Bartholomew said genuinely impressed. "I see you have been listening. Explain what you mean by pinging."

"Well uhm, the enemy used sonar to find their targets. Pings tell everyone with sonar where you are but also show where the enemy is. Vale was used to fighting without sonar but the Atlesian royal fleet wasn't. They got close and pinged like crazy. It made so much noise that the enemy just saw a bunch of blobs on their screens."

"Precisely, but it only worked because of what two reasons?" Bartholomew asked looking for someone else to ask. "Ms. Belladonna?"

"Because it was foggy and Vale had a bigger fleet than Atlas."

"Wait a minute. You said the sides were even!" Cardin argued.

"They were Mr. Winchester. The New Royals and the rebels were at a stalemate. This battle saw to the end of the war." Cardin was bad with history but he knew bits and pieces. Suddenly everything pieced together in his head because he had heard people talking about a battle where something happened. "The number of people who fought in the battle of Patch was even on both sides but the number of ships certainly was not. Ms. Belladonna can you elaborate on your answer?" Oobleck requested as he refilled his coffee.

"Atlesian ships, like today, were large, slow, and depended on advance technology to know their way around," Blake explained earning an unhappy grumble from Weiss as she spoke ill of her countries military tech. "Because of the fog they couldn't see a thing and with the pinging strategy they had no way of getting through the fog. Vale's fleet was made up of a few hundred small ships, fishing boats and such. With the Atlesians confused it was easy to maneuver around their frigates and defeat them with the use of boarding parties. A good hunter can defeat a crew of dust constructs and common troops any day."

"Spot on Blake!" Oobleck praised.

"Spot on," Weiss said to herself snottily.

"Weiss!"

"Yes Mr. I mean Professor Oobleck!" Weiss shouted, standing up at attention having been caught by her mentor. The other girls laughed at how stressed Weiss was acting in a classroom of all things.

"Sheesh woman calm down. Neptune joined this class halfway through the chapter and he doesn't look stressed at all."

"Just chilling sir," Neptune assured the professor. Neptune would never admit to it but he was a nerd at heart. He read about history for fun.

"Could you tell us what happened after the battle, Weiss. Being an Atlesian yourself I'm curious how things are taught back in your home."

"You mean, the Atlesian Revolution sir?"

"Everywhere else it's just called the end of the war but yes, that thing. Chop chop!"

"Well, after Vale and its allies defeated Atlas and overthrew their viceroys back home, the people in Atlas were no longer afraid of their ruler either. He was the only one left and his army had drowned with his fleet. So, after years of tyranny and expressive censorship, we overthrew him."

"Don't forget the countless beheadings of nobles Ms. Schnee," Oobleck reminded her.

"Urg, yeah that happened too," Weiss admitted. Atlesians liked to think themselves upper class even though they had over throne their nobility 80 years ago. The concept of their revolution being considered a blood bath was a nuisance to them. Though, it was the truth.

"And with that came an end to the war, the formation of the city councils, the appointment of new kings as figure heads, and the Vytal festival. Did we miss anything?"

"Professor?" Nora interrupted.

"Yes dear?"

"Did Professor Port really fight in the war?"

"Uhg, please tell me he didn't say that," Oobleck sighed a bit disappointed that his friend and fellow educator was so full of himself.

"Yep! That and that he single handedly courted every Atlesian girl in Mantle."

Now Oobleck was just annoyed of his colleague's bravado. To think he would stoop to lying to his own students. This was heresy to Bartholomew. History was meant to be passed down accurately not changed to boast one's ego. "Rest assured Ms. Valkyrie that if Peter was fighting the war or wooing anyone he was doing it from inside his father testic…"

"Bartholomew," said the wise but urgent voice of the school's head master, Ozpin, standing in the door way. "May I have some of your time?"

Bartholomew needed a moment to calm himself down before continuing his review.

"Yes yes you may," He sighed ", while I'm gone I want all of you to write down ten things you learned in class this semester that where taught incorrectly to you somewhere else. If you can't make all ten things something Professor Port told you then I have a feeling that you're either falling this class or his."

After that Oobleck zipped out of the room to speak with Ozpin.

"Guys, what do you think that was all about?" Ruby asked of her team since no one took the after class assignment Oobleck just described seriously.

"Seriously Ruby, just once can we stay out of Ozpin's and the city's business? At some point I need to find time to study."

"Yeah I think you guys and Sun have dragged us into enough trouble. Just let Ironwood handle the giant robots and Grim for a weekend." Neptune suggested.

"Thank you Neptune." Weiss praised her would be boyfriend with a proud smirk not for his consideration but her "victory" in finding someone that would be one her side in conversations with her friends. "In the end we didn't even stop Torchwick's plan. The grim still got downtown and the Atlesian army would have been there no matter what. Now, if we can put all this world saving stuff to rest for a few days, I would like to not fail this test."

"But you have the highest grade in the class," Ruby tried to explain. "What's the worst that could happen if you get a B?"

"You mean a lower A?" Yang mumbled knowing that Weiss's grade was so high that even if she did fail this test she would probably keep her grade.

"My family, friends and colleagues are looking up to and depending on me to do well in school Ruby."

"Uh, I don't know about your family but we don't care," Yang added.

"What would they think if my GPA was second to one of you southerners?!"

"Uhg I forgot how proud Atlesians are," moaned Blake.

"We in Atlas are proud of both our knowledge and scientific creativity. We dedicate our lives to proper etiquette, artistic expression, and advanced research. If one of us were to slip up and fall second to a, well, less dedicated person," she said looking at the other girls but tipping her head to Yang ", imagine how it would look."

"Ok you little snow angel. Let's see how stuck up you are when I melt the icicle stuck up your…"

"Sorry kids. The headmaster and I were just talking about the big festival griffball game this weekend. Seems I'll be the referee for the event. I sure hope our team doesn't kill anyone this year." Oobleck joked, standing by Nora who was smashing peanuts on her desk rather violently before eating them. "Regardless of the festivities I hope you all continue to study tonight and leave all your festival related excitement for after the test. As a gift for coming after school tonight I'll go ahead and tell you what the essay question will be."

Everyone verbally moaned at this news since they were originally told the exam would only contain multiple choice questions.

"Stop your whining everyone. I'm letting you do almost anything you want on this one. All you have to do is write about one heroic event, person or group during the war. The only requirement is that the event must have been conducted by people not from your home Kingdom. For most of you that means people outside of vale but for anyone visiting for the vital festival or having transferred from another continent the rule still applies. For example I don't want an essay about the head rolling "revolution" from Ms. Schnee. Understood everyone?"

No one was happy about it but at least they knew about this ahead of time. No doubt this question was added to the exam because there were so many students visiting from abroad. All one had to do was ask about another's kingdom during the war.

"Let's do an example essay, shall we?" Oobleck asked of the class. "Anyone want to offer a story. For this practice let's pick a subject involving all four kingdoms. I'm sure everyone has one particular group that comes to mind."

At this hint everyone simultaneously thought the same answer, but one girl sitting with her friends in the back had an uncontrollable urge to answer as she waved her hand up in the air begging for attention.

"Yes, Ruby. Go ahead and Pick."

"Team WHAB!"

* * *

**About 80 Years Ago in the Cold Morning of Vale's Winter, a Few Miles from Vale's Walls in the Forest of Forever Fall.**

"Woody?" called out a young girl with long red hair as she walked up to a tall fellow chopping up the tree he brought down earlier. "Are you done yet? Surely you've cut down enough wood to make Erik happy. I doubt he needs a whole tree for you to make an axe."

"Sure, you're right," the tall man wearing a read cloak said as he brushed his shoulder length hair, a similar shade to the young girl's, to the side ", but it takes more than a few pieces of wood to make a new table Rachel. Dad will be angry enough when he returns to see that his father's carpentry was burnt to a crisp. Even angrier when he hears his daughter was practicing with dust inside his wooden house. I have to at least make a new table to replace the one we lost."

Rachel pouted at the thought of her father coming home angry at her. She thought it was unfair. Mother used to use burn dust inside all the time to cook or do quick metal work. "What did you want me to do? I don't know any other way to light a fireplace."

"Uhm, I don't know sis." Woody teased. "You could light it the old fashion way. You don't have to slap dust on every little thing."

"I don't know how to light a fire the regular way. I would have asked you but you were out hunting with Erik again. I would have used a match but we were out so the only option was using dust."

"You could have gone into town and bought some matches." Woody suggested as he started to pack up his cutting equipment and tie the wood he chopped together.

"I didn't feel like it. You know how annoying those new guards are at the gate. They ask you all these weird questions. I swear, those Atlesian guys are depressingly strict. I hope they're not all like that."

"I don't think so sis." He replied throwing his bag of equipment on his back and lifting the bundle of wood. No doubt it would take two trips to get enough wood for the table but this was enough for him to start the new axe he promised his friend Erik. "I mean, Erik and his sister seem just fine."

"Lila and Erik don't count. They've been here in Vale so long they probably wouldn't remember what continent Atlas is in."

"A bit of a stretch but I see where you're coming from. Still if you don't do anything weird and you go through the gate every day, I hear the new guards don't give you much trouble. At least not as much as a Faunus."

The Kingdom of Vale, if one could call it that anymore, was something of a mistake. A long time ago when humans were still trying to seek refuge from the Grim in any way they could, a group of Faunus founded a small village near the shore. It took some time but one day the first human settlers made their way to the Eastern reaches of Vytal. It was thought for centuries that there was no hope of living in the dense forests of eastern Vytal since from the shores one could see masses of Grimm going about. About a hundred and fifty years ago the Atlesians were running low on resources. The natural solution was to go find more.

With one of the strongest militaries in the world they set foot on the shore of Vytal in hopes of finding rich new land. Being a bit jealous of their northern counterparts, the kingdoms of Mistral and Vacuo followed suit for their own reasons. All three nations set up colonies around the area but without success. The deep forests and rugged terrain were perfect for Grimm to lay ambush. The days were turning dark for the new settlers as their numbers grew smaller and smaller and their nations became exhausted from failed attempts. For those left far from home there was little hope of help from their kingdoms. That's when the local Faunus revealed themselves.

They feared humans but were more than willing to help someone in danger. Having heard that the distant kingdoms had left their people to die in their wilderness, they saw it upon them to take them in.

What was once a small village was now a prosperous town secured by mountains and rivers alike. With such barriers only a few walls were required to keep out the Grimm. With a new home the newly inducted humans integrated themselves in society. Technology unknown to the local Faunus became common practice and it wasn't long until contact with the three kingdoms was made. Vale, having grown from a tiny village to a prosperous trade city now sat in the middle of the world as the center of diplomacy, and culture. Sadly their time as an independent state wouldn't last long.

"I don't see why the Atlesians have to stay here." complained the seven years younger and two feet shorter Rachel to her brother as she tried to keep up with his larger steps in the deep winter snow. "I mean, my teacher says we were handling things pretty well before their troops made a home here. It's not like we don't know how to fight a few Grimm."

"They're just afraid someone might try to hurt us." Her brother tried to explain though he knew where she was coming from.

"Like who. Everyone loves Vale. I keep asking my teacher why the troops are here now and he always gets so nervous about it." Rachel, though smarter than a lot of kids her age, was naïve. Such was expected from a fourteen year old girl who knew nothing but life under Atlas. To her the recent surge of Atlesian troops seemed like a lot, but to Woody and his father it was just another act of enforcement from a long string of events to further occupy Vale.

"Your teacher is probably just afraid that some of your classmate's parents will get mad if he says why."

"But he's a history teacher. Isn't telling us why things happened his job?" she asked dumbfounded.

The truth was that by law the professor wasn't allowed to talk ill of the Atlesian forces. Such acts could be mistaken as treason and have you sent to jail, or worse. It's for reasons like that for which no one spoke of the law. Many feared that if complaints amongst trusted friends or family were heard by a passerby that said person would report them for treason. Despite most citizen's anger towards Atlas there were still plenty of loyalists. Even though they were a minority of the city's population that didn't change the fact that they had an entire army willing to impose themselves on the rest.

"Well not everyone can do their job without getting in trouble anymore." Wood said under his breath.

"That's stupid," Rachel replied as her brother hopped there wasn't a hunter or other woodsman in the forest to hear their chatter. Though many of the others who lived outside the wall were against Atlas' actions, it didn't mean that they were completely trust worthy. Everyone's family came first and that was accepted out in the country. If the Atlesians came looking for a traitor and threatened someone's family then no one would look down on them for turning a neighbor in. No one would expect a neighbor to risk their kids or parents for them. So it was best just to keep quiet regarding such subjects.

Though, for those too young or naive to know about such things there was always a chance that something would slip. "I think Atlas should just leave. I can tell that they make everyone unhappy and I wouldn't mind if Dad was able to stay home for a change."

"Rachel, what did Dad tell you about being mad at Atlas?" Her brother moaned.

"He says to not be mad and be happy that they protect us but he never tells me why. If neither of you tell me I'll never know why I should be quiet."

"We told you already. It's because it's dangerous."

"But why is it dangerous? What happens to all the people the soldiers take away?"

"The subject is really personal for dad Rachel. That's why he won't tell you."

"Then why won't you tell me?"

"Because Dad wants to tell you when the time is right Sis. I don't make a habit of disobeying Father so neither should you?" Woody tried to be assertive in his father's absence. Their father, Toman Holzfaller, was constantly being called into the city. As a talented carpenter and blacksmith, their father was commissioned by the local Atlesian troops to produce new arms for the guard. He was often gone for months at a time so it was up to Woody to take care of his sister in the meantime. The job wasn't necessarily something the Atlesian military needed but rather a way of keeping their father under close watch.

"Is that when he'll tell me about Mom?" Rachel demanded. At that Woody didn't say a thing. This wasn't the first time Rachel asked about their mother and it wouldn't be the last. She'd grown used to the silence that followed the question but she had not lost her persistence.

The walk home was quiet. Life outside the walls was usually such in the winter. Wild animals tended to hibernate during the cold so the blood thirsty Grimm had nothing to torment. It's not that the grim hated animals as much as humans or that they needed them to eat. It was simply that they knew humans needed them for food. That was enough for them to hunt. With the animals gone for the winter the Grimm tended to travel south for warmth in Vacuo. There they could pester animals with ease. Only a few species would stay up here in Vale.

With the beasts gone the forest of Forever Fall was peaceful for the most part. This time of year was great for Grim hunting since the chances of getting swarmed buy a large amount of them was small. Hunters from inside the city would leave in search of easy game to tell stories about. As for the assorted woodcutters and carpenters like the Holzfallers this was the perfect time to cut as much wood as possible without being attacked. It was the one time of the year where the Grim were the ones being hunted. With so many hunters out and about the woodsmen were free to work with plenty of protection. All they had to do was not go out to far and there would surely be someone nearby to help them.

As the two siblings approached their family's cabin, just a mile from the wall, they saw a group of young men in white and red cloaks in their yard around a small fire goofing around. It was worthy to note that none of the men in white would speak to those in red. None but one.

"Woody, we were wondering where you had gone?" A man about Woody's age called out in a thick northern accent and just as northern white cape, leaving the group of festive young men to dash towards his friend. "I haven't seen you in three months and you're not even home when I get here? You should be ashamed of yourself."

"I'm surprised you're even awake Erik. Can the alarm clocks even go off this early in the noble district?" Woody joked laying down the wood he gathered to hug his friend.

"You'd be surprised what the clocks can do up there. My neighbor even has one with no dials. It's just numbers and lights! We live in enlightened times. Speaking of fancy gadgets, where's my new toy?"

"Depends, you bring anything yourself." Wood teased though for good reason. His work took a lot of his free time and even though it was all for a friend, some compensation now and then was nice.

"Well of course I did. What kind of friend doesn't bring gifts for his country hunting buddy." Erik replied running to a bag he brought and pulling out a red cloth. "Just like you ordered, the thing has so much dust in it that it practically smells of the stuff."

"Ooh, what's that?" Rachel asked curiously earning the friend's attention.

"Oh sorry, it's nice to see you too Rachel. You're brother's horrible at putting dust in cloth so he wanted me to bring him some already made. I guess he deserves it since he's making my new hunting equipment and all."

"What does the cloth do Erik?" Rachel persisted trying to get a good look at it. The tall bleach blonde man in white smiled at how easily excited his friend's little sister still was. Woody on the other hand sighed, wondering if his sister would ever grow up. With father gone, her energetic personality was host to all sorts of trouble, burnt tables included.

"Haha, I don't know yet Rachel? He still has to make it into something." Erik laughed as he held the bundle of red cloth just out of Rachel's reach. He'd received a letter a couple days ago arranging his arrival. In it Wood mentioned the table incident. Erik saw it best to keep dust away from the girl when possible.

"Now Rachel, leave my brother alone. If you keep jumping on him like that the noble girls back home will get jealous." Said a soft voice emerging from the cabin.

"Lila!" Rachel shouted in surprise as she abandoned her struggle for the enchanted cloth to run to her and her brother's childhood friend. "Woody didn't tell me you were coming too!"

"Haha, he probably didn't want you to burn down the house in your excitement." The light purple haired woman joked as she hugged her younger friend.

Lila, Erik's eighteen year old little sister was the envy of most young girls in vale who knew here. Her long almost white but still purple hair was a sign of the purest of Atlesian bloodlines and it matched her just as prominent pale northern skin. These two traits were not only the most desired in Atlas but a sign of her family's lineage. Never once had they married a foreigner and it was assumed that a legitimate heir to their wealth never would.

"Erik," Wood hissed quietkly to his inner city friend trying not to be heard. "You didn't tell me your sister was coming too."

"If I did I thought you would be super weird about it. Seems surprising you wasn't any better. Come on, at least say hello."

"Hey Lila." Wood shyly said. "Uhm how's it been."

"Ugh," groaned Erik, throwing the bundle of cloth at Wood while continuing to whisper. "The right words were "I'm happy to see you" you idiot."

It was normal for men to faun over his sister and for the most part he had grown used to it since he knew none of those guys meant anything romantic of it. It just annoyed him that his best friend not only liked her as well but was too shy to voice his genuine affection while horn dog noblemen had no qualms in speaking of their rather nasty intentions for his sister to his face.

"Oh I've been just fine Wood. Erik would never admit it but we've both been worried about you two. We hear it's hard to get in and out of the city now. Neither of you has visited in months."

"The guards never believe us when we say we're visiting friends in the noble district." Rachel complained. "They just tell me to go home or ask me all these weird questions."

At that Erik and Lila Huter looked at one another in shame. They had gotten here just fine and they knew the reason why.

"I'll be sure to tell all the guard posts from here to the mansion about you two. If they hear that the Martial's son's friends are being harassed I'm sure they'll think twice about bothering you." A few years ago the Atlesians arrived and pretty much took over the city. They're new King was pretty militaristic and thought that all Atlesians should live under one flag. Since about a third of the city was Atlesian or at least related, that was enough of an excuse for him to send his army. Vale tried to fight back but gave up within a day. The other two Kingdoms didn't hear what happened until the Atlesian flag soared over Vale.

Erik and Lila's dad was put in charge of the towns guard. Despite being from Atlas he still expressed care for Vale's people. Though, the king often disagreed. Despite how much the Huter's tried they still had to follow the king's laws. That meant that Atlesian rights came first.

As the three talked, Wood couldn't help but notice there were more men than usual this season in the yard. Especially those in Atlesian white. "Hey Erik? Is it just me or did you make a lot of new friends this season?"

"Oh you mean the new guys? Nah they're just some of the new nobles that came last fall. You know us Atlesians love our hunting."

Again, it was normal for people to go hunting in the winter in Vale but to Atlesians it was the only real time to do so. They were used to snow falling year round. To them Vale's winter was the only time to experience the hunt like they did back home.

"I was wondering why there were so many of you white cloaks this year?" Wood referred to the dust imbued cloaks the Atlesians wore in contrast to Vale's. Following Vale's occupation the hunters were required to wear cloaks outside the walls so that the guard wouldn't mistake them for fugitives. Back in Atlas it was fashionable to wear White. This made it hard for even Grimm to see you in the snow. Of course the law of the king needed a way to tell Valisien from Atlesian. So Vale hunters were demanded to where red cloaks, which were already worn by the woodsmen beyond the wall. Usually there was way more red than white in the hunting season but this year the numbers were oddly even. "I'm sure we'll still bring back more game than you guys."

"Haha sure you will. Now enough is enough. Where are my new toys?" Erik said quite demandingly.

"I only have you're knew crossbow," Wood sighed as he pulled it out of the work shed, a small building behind the house that Wood and his father kept locked from the worlds eye's, even Rachel's.

"What?! But where's the Axe? How am I supposed to hunt without one?" He groaned.

"I don't know? Shoot stuff. I asked for a dust imbued red cloak like your guy's white ones and all I got was cloth."

"Well I'm sorry. It takes forever to order this stuff. I didn't have time to get it cut into anything." Imbuing dust in clothing was harder than simply powdering it. It took experts, most of which lived in Atlas.

"Well I was busy fixing our living room." Wood said referring to Rachel's fiery incident the other day, earning an angry look as Lila chuckled. "I guess we can both blame dust for our problems."

At that he handed the elegantly crafted crossbow to his friend. The cross itself was thin and made with a mix of different woods from either the Emerald forest or Forever Fall. As for the bow, it was metal, and resembled two sharp blades attached to a complicated set of small spring pullies near the middle.

"What's with the bow on this thing?" Erik asked a bit puzzled by the design. "Wait…Oh my god don't tell it's like your bow!"

At this realization Erik jumped in glee. A true accomplishment given that he was rich. Very few things could excite him. In regards to the crossbow it shared one feature that was very similar to Wood's hunting bow.

"Here give it back. I wouldn't want you cutting your arm off on the first try," Wood demanded taking the crossbow back and loosening a clip near the back. The crossbow violently undid itself while the momentum of the reaction triggered a pulley which pulled the bladed bow close to the cross causing the grip to also turn into a handle. The end result was an oddly shaped but threatening looking sword. With the loosening of the pulley the sword undid itself again this time reforming into the crossbow.

"Thank you thank you thank you! Screw the axe. This is the best gift ever. I'll never use another weapon again!" Erik said in glee grabbing the crossbow from his talented friend. "What does it shoot?!"

"Uh? I don't know. Almost anything I guess. The sting is strong enough to shoot anything that fits in it…"

* * *

**Back in Oobleck's modern day History Class.**

"Ruby we're trying to write an essay on team WHAB," Oobleck interrupted. "I know you love weapons but is there a way we can avoid so much over fluffed detail?"

When it came to the subject of hand held weapons, early or modern, Ruby considered herself an expert. "But I haven't even got to Woody's bow! It's made of highly compact Forever wood in conjunction with a pure iron…"

"I'll take that as a no," Oobleck injected quickly. "Hmm, who else is a good story teller?" Oobleck repeatedly tapped his pencil on the podium as scanned the room for someone to ask next. "Ah! Ms. Schnee. Do us a favor and tell us about your countrymen, the Huters."

"The who?" Weiss said snottily.

"You can't be serious?" Blake said in disbelief.

"You don't know about Erik Huter?! The Bowman in white? The Sword of the Snow? You know, THE Huntsman?" Ruby demanded.

"Never heard of him or the rest of this team WHAB." This shocked everyone who knew Weiss had the highest grade in the class.

"This seems to be a shocking turn of events." Oobleck commented. "Are you saying that to this day, Atlas doesn't speak of the most well-known and influential group of hunters known since the war?"

"I don't know. I was home schooled." Weiss admitted. Her family seemed to have a different view of the world then the rest of her country. No doubt because of her father.

"Well. We're surely not leaving this room until you do know of them." Oobleck promised, earning a sigh from the class.

* * *

**ಠ****_****ಠ** **Authors note**

**I'd like to welcome everone to a time long before RWBY. I see a lot of fics about the future of our favorite huntresses but I see very little on what lead to their fascination of the field let alone the lore of Vale. I understand that at any moment the crew at rooster teeth could explain the Great War (not to be confused with the Faunus one) in more detail and ruin this fic. Still I find this a safer route then making an attempted future that would be ruined the second season 3 starts. **

**My goal is to take you all on adventure in the land of remnant that for the most part can stand untoached and be a nice thing to do between seasons. Because of that these chapters will not only include the events of team WHAB but those of team RWBY in the present as openings. For now the team RWBY instances will serve as trips to Prof Oobleck's room but they will transform into a story of their own that will not only relate to the flashbacks on the Great War but also serve as a side story to the one written by Rooster teeth. **

**In other words do not worry. If you like the war you'll get plenty of the war but if you miss Ruby and the gang's struggle you'll get plenty of that too. **

**P.S. Please Fav and Follow so you can be updated on ew chapter releases. I'll try my best to make them occur on Fridays but their might not be a regular schedule. I am a student and a GE Employee so there will be times when things get busy. **

**Please review and ask questions if at all curious. Such things will be answered down here in the author's note as a type of discussion board. **

**Hope to see you all in future posts. **


	2. Chapter 2: A Higher Fall

**Chapter 2: A Higher Fall**

_In honor of those who died fighting for, and those who have passed compelling our creativity._

**Beacon Academy, Modern Day**

"Impressive kids! Simply Impressive!" Ooblek announced while speeding into the lecture hall. "By impressive I mean your test scores of course but for the most part your essays were lacking."

"What?!" Weiss complained rather audibly. "I stayed up all night researching for that essay!"

"And it shows Ms. Schnee. I could tell by the small drool stain that emits the powerful aroma of Schneebuck's coffee, on the second page. Your problem was that you obviously weren't awake enough to write what you had to say without falling asleep on your test."

Weiss lowered her head in defeat. It was true that she had fallen asleep for some ten minutes of the hour and a half allotted testing time. She feared that her teammates would be giggling amongst themselves but was not the least bit shocked that they were all too worried about their own essays to do so. Oobleck gave a surprisingly easy multiple choice exam but he had proven harsh in the regards of written assignments.

Neptune who had taken the seat beside her, shook his head in disappointment but only as a joke to lighten Weiss up. The obvious jest, given his sarcastic smile, had none the less been misunderstood and Weiss fell into a small state of depression. The following insult on their intelligence didn't help.

"I must say that some of your essays were quite interesting. I was shocked to see lesser known figures such as Hilda Drakenburg and Fritz Packem make the light of day. They're usually ignored for the much more exciting team WHAB. It's actually really funny since no one seems to know what WHAB stands for. Everyone assumes it was their names but then they wonder why Lila is A and Rachel is B. Anyone care to enlighten the rest of the class?"

The room was quiet due to a lack in self-confidence. None of them knew this to be true but they assumed their grade would be seriously docked by this essay.

"Why are you all so fearful? I swear this room is generating enough gloom and doom to attract half the grim from here to Vacuo, and I mean the long way by land! I've had enough of this dreadfulness. Say something or I'll actually make this essay worth something on your exam!"

"Wait what?!" the entire class seemed to demand in some way or another.

"It wasn't even worth anything?!" Weiss demanded.

"Yes!" Yang and Sun said to themselves.

"I thought telling you it wouldn't would have hampered your efforts but it would seem that my attempt to heighten your need of knowledge was, for the most part, pointless," the professor said this with a sigh, taking a sip from his favorite coffee mug. "Imagine my shock when the best written of your papers came from a foreigner writing an essay on Vale's own Rachel Holzfaller. Kudos to you Mr. Vasilias."

"No problem Doc," Neptune said with his trade mark wink and smile.

"Dude you're so annoying," Sun said under his breath. "And really, Rachel? I thought you would have written on Lila. Aren't you into ice queens?"

"Hey, you have to give it to a girl with an explosive personality bro."

"Really? Because everyone says my personality is like a land mine," Weiss tried to insert a pun but Yang couldn't help but laugh at how the attempt had practically said that one wrong move and she'd go off on you.

"Snow Angel, I wasn't talking that kind of explosive," Neptune replied causing Yang to burst out laughing. Apparently she wasn't the only one who had made the connection.

"Wow, you could say that that joke 'blew up in your face?'."

"Ms. Xiao Long. Since you find your abysmal essay so comical. Maybe you could enlighten us on what WHAB stands for," Oobleck demanded of the caught off guard teenager.

"Oh well..."

"Woodsmen, Hunter, Augurer and Bear," Ruby whispered to her sister trying to save her skin.

"What was that Ms. Rose?" Oobleck called out.

"N-nothing Mr. Ooble...oh god," Ruby immediately reprimanded herself for her stuttering habit and what it had gotten her into.

"Doctor!" the professor corrected her.

"My apologies oh great one!"

"Just say the answer dear."

"Welcome to the disappointing student club," Weiss said with a sigh.

"Correction Ms. Schnee, your leader would have gotten an A on her essay. Now Ruby, dear, the answer please."

"Y-yes, W for Woodsman, H for Hunter and A and B for Augurer and Bear," she answered seriously.

"And why didn't they use their names?"

"Cuz team RWLE was taken by the king?" she joked in another attempt to make Oobleck smile. "Wow you're really not feeling the puns today."

"Nah, your puns just suck," Yang explained.

"Ok but in all seriousness Professor, WHAB regards the nicknames given to them by their enemies. It was before the four huntsmen Academies were formed, so team naming wasn't a trend yet."

"Thanks for being serious Ruby. This brings me to my next point. Where did they get these names? Can someone other than Ruby answer this?"

"Oh oh oh, Professor!" Nora was talking under her breath but waving her hands frantically in the front row. Just a few paces away from Oobleck, he couldn't help but ponder why this desperate call for attention was needed to answer a lecture question. Regardless, it seemed that she was volunteering.

"Yes Ms. Valkyrie."

"I have the answer."

"I figured. If you may, enlighten the others would you."

"Well Wood is obviously a woodsmen. Back then only they whore those big read cloaks. So when the enemy saw him running around with the thing it must have been easy to call him that. Then Erik was obsessed with hunting and could track almost anything or anyone. Plus his last name sounds like hunter. Lila was a wiz at dust enchantment so why not call her an Augur-whatevers and Rachel had bear ears."

"I'm sorry but are you inferring that she was a Faunus? No one ever found evidence of such in the past."

"Now don't be silly Professor. What reason would she have to hide that?" The comment caused the professor to give Blake a once over. It was becoming obvious to the young feline that her true ethnicity was becoming more known.

"At the time, many a reason, but I think we both know that wasn't the case. Enlighten us on the bear ears Nora. Oh, and while you do that…Pyrrha and Jaune, would you both do us a favor and be ready to talk about Fritz and Hilda. Everyone else start editing your essays. I expect to see them all redone by this Friday. I'm making sure you understand the War you were all named after if it means dragging out this assignment for the next month. Trust me, I have time to spare. I'll only be teaching you for two more whole years," he said a bit darkly, earning the fretful eyes of his students.

* * *

**Winter, A few miles from the walls of Vale, just before the war**

"Rachel?" The young noble woman called out as she searched the frozen property of her friends' home. The home consisted of a log house with a few different shacks. It wasn't much to look through but when you were searching for a hyper active teenage girl it was still hard. Lila was starting to believe that the young country woman was running circles around the house. "Lila, where are you? I don't mind the snow but outside in the country is no place for a lady when all the hunters are gone."

Lila thought that comment over again when she remembered the various skills and training she had received. She was more than capable of defending herself. Rachel wasn't that far off.

"Hey Lila," called out a voice from above the cabin ", watch this!"

The dark haired girl through up some frost dust and casted it into three sharp crystals that she shot into the forest. A second later, three small Grimm birds fell from the branches. "Didn't you're brother say not to be using dust?"

"Didn't yours tell you to hurry up and get married like two years ago?" Rachel joked before jumping down with a little help from her aura to the noble woman's side. Reinforcement casting was great for anyone who could use their aura. Stronger skin and stronger limbs were just the beginning of their advantages.

"I guess you bring up a good point," Lila sighed, blowing her bangs to the side with a lazy puff of air and an unmotivated look. The subject was a reoccurring and annoying one for the girl.

"Speaking of which, does your family have any plans for that? I know you Atlesians are weird about marriage," Rachel pointed out. The girl was refilling some dust canisters with some of the stores her brother kept on the porch after quickly jumping down from the roof. The dust wasn't locked up since theft wasn't something to worry about in Vale. At least not with dust. Atlas had more than enough of it so prices were cheap.

"Actually I don't think my father has any plans to marry me off," she said depressingly.

"Really?!" Rachel gasped. "That's great!"

"I fail to see how that's great Rachel. I'm eighteen and I don't even have true fan boys, let alone a betrothed."

"Then who are all those guys who are always asking you out?"

"They're not exactly looking into marriage," Lila hinted. She didn't expect the young Velisien country girl to understand. She was pretty, Atlesian noble boys had no problem trying to 'Make the Four' with anything that walked. Marriage is what made them picky.

"Oh I get it, you're the serious relationship type," Rachel pointed out.

"That's not exactly what I meant but yes that is certainly what marriage is," this was her people's way. Rachel didn't seem to ever understand that. That, or she did but wouldn't accept it. Not when her friend's happiness was on the line.

"So if you really think you'll never get married to some northern pretty boy noblemen then why don't you just get with Wood?" Rachel asked with a bit of mischief in her voice.

"What?! Why...Rachel stop joking around," the noble blushed.

"I really don't get you Atlesians. Here in Vale we just hook up with whoever we like. We don't dilly dally around expecting the other person to ask us out. Heck, even your brother gets that."

"My brother is a horrible example of truly understanding companionship, the shameless player, and I don't even like your own brother that way!" Lila tried to argue

"Says the girl twiddling her thumbs, who blushes and stutters at the site of him. Heck, just the mention of him in this case."

Lila was shocked to see how much her younger friend had changed. A few years ago all she cared about were fancy foods and dresses Lila would bring along. She was shy about boys and always avoided the subject. Now she was blunt. Lila thought she would stand to improve herself by listening to the childhood friend. Even if she was only fourteen which seemed odd.

"Hey, Rachel? Have you ever, been with any boy? I know non-nobles date a lot but aren't you a little young?"

"Oh no I've never been in anything serious. The last boy I 'dated' stayed with me for a week before I slapped him over the head with a Griff."

"W-what? Why did you do that?" Lila asked in confusion. "And what's a Griff?"

"You've never heard of Griffball? It's a game everyone plays."

"No Rachel I've never heard of it," Lila said confused and worried for the boy who got hit. "Should I ask how you play it? That is, I'm assuming it's a game."

"The way it works is there are two teams with griffs, they're like clubs but it's cool to hit people since we all got aura. There's one ball and everyone fights to get it to the other side of the field. That's it."

"That's it?"

"Yep. It's like football but with griffs."

"Sounds dangerously simple."

"That's what's so fun!" Rachel insisted. Lila hoped that this odd country sport wouldn't become a thing in fear of what injuries would come with it.

"So you guys were playing this Griffball thing then?"

"Nah the game was over and I was mad that his team won. So I hit him over the head."

"That's, not what I would have done," Lila noted.

"Why not, he had his aura up so it was ok. He fell over and splashed his face into the mud. His friends were all laughing at him so he broke up with me."

"Rachel, I know you're pretty rough for a girl but don't you think you might be a little too rough?" Lila asked a bit concerned. "Most boys don't prefer tom boys."

"I guess that's fine since I don't like most boys," Rachel answered without a second thought. Lila couldn't help but admire how self-accepting Rachel was. She was sure that Rachel wasn't too different from most the girls beyond the wall. She just seemed so different because of their social classes. Despite this they seemed to have something in common. "You like em different too don't you?"

"This again," Lila moaned.

"You shouldn't lie to yourself. I've known you've liked my brother for a while. It's pretty obvious he likes you too. He thinks your perfect and says I should always be more like you. He adores you."

"Really?" Lila had to ask even though she knew deep down that Wood must feel the same.

"That's why I'm saying you should just live with us. You're not like the other noble girls. You don't just come out here for the hunt to root for the boys. You want to go out hunting with all of em don't you? No Grimm would stand a chance against you."

"I wouldn't mind it but there's more to it than that."

"I remember. I just think you're going about things wrong. It's time that you stop looking at the mirror trying to be what your hair and skin say you are and admit to what your blood says," Rachel said wisely.

Lila thought the comment over, thinking that maybe her friend was right, especially regarding the well-known secret regarding her blood. Then she remembered that this girl also beat up her first boyfriend, caught the house on fire and was only fourteen. "Rachel you have to tone down the profoundness or the other girls out here might think you're mature."

"Trust me I burned that bridge down forever ago," Rachel said with an evil smirk. It was hard not to take the comment seriously at this point. "So, are you bored staying here yet?"

"No I love staying with you guys," Lila insisted.

"No I meant just staying here at the cabin. I'm going into the forest. You coming?"

"But the boys said..."

"But the boys said," Rachel repeated mockingly ", you don't listen to your brother so you shouldn't listen to mine. I never do."

Just then they heard a deep growl.

"Oooh, did you hear that? Let's go kill it!"

"Rachel wait," Lila pleaded as her young friend ran into the forest with a hop in her step.

"Oh my gosh, Lila it's a bear!" Rachel said in glee.

"Rachel what are you doing?!" Lila ran into the forest in deep worry for her younger friend. She was standing on top of an elevation above a frozen creek. Below was a bear that had just finished killing a much weaker Grimm.

"Hey boy, you know you're way to far from home right? This is people town," Rachel said seemingly worried for the bear. She then noticed the animal was bleeding profusely from its neck. It had won its battle with the now evaporated Grimm but it wouldn't have the strength to leave let alone live.

The animal growled defensively as Rachel moved in closer. Lila was going to tell her to stop but then she saw the bear's aura visually dissipate. There was no doubt that the bear was in the final moments of its life. It lay on its side trying to keep the two girls in view. After a few moments of caution, Lila joined Rachel beside the fallen beast.

"Is it normal for bears to be this close to the wall?"

"No, poor thing's home probably got taken by Grimm. I'm surprised it made it past all the hunters," as Rachel said this the bear moaned in pain. "We should put it out of its misery. I wouldn't want to bleed to death."

Rachel was used to doing this. It wouldn't be the first time they found a wounded animal, victim to the Grimm, on their property. The young country girl went off and returned with a long spear from her families shed. Moments later she drove the edge through the beast's heart, ending its fight. Moments later she pulled out a large knife.

"What are you doing?"

"Skinning it," Rachel said casually. Lila had to remind herself that this was outside the wall where people hunted most of their meet. To her friend this must have been a free meal that had wandered into their land. A blessing giving Atlesian taxes on meat and everything else. The fur itself would fetch enough Atlesian silvers to buy a radio or heater. Furs where hard to find in the winter. "You ever eat bear?"

Lila thought the bear's death was a little too sad to think about food but she remembered this was normal beyond the wall. She was pretty accepting about these things. She had been friends with Rachel and Wood long enough to see more than her fair share of country folk customs. That and her brother always talked about hunting.

"No I haven't," she replied still a bit cautiously. "Is it like beef?"

"I wouldn't really know. I've only had beef at your place. It's like tough deer." Lila accepted the animal's fate but she still found it weird to eat food from an animal you killed yourself.

"I'll try it I guess," she said with a sigh. More than likely her brother would want to have it for dinner and she didn't want to be picky. She always tried her best to be less noble like when she came out here', so asking for a separate dish was out of the question.

As Lila continued to watch Rachel dress the animal, she couldn't help but notice how not squeamish she was. She'd always thought that it would be hard to watch something being torn apart for food but surprisingly enough she was ok with it. She assumed it had something to do with her brother's constant ramblings regarding hunts.

"What are you going to do with the pelt?" Lila asked while Rachel finished stripping off a large layer of fur to reveal the meat. She did this while her thin shoulders shivered in the cold. The poor girl didn't seem to own anything warm in her size.

"I'll let Wood decide. I did burn down a little more than our dinner table and we're low on cash. He'll need some cash to buy screws and such to keep a new table together and make more of his gadgets. Plus we've been saving for a radio and a generator."

"This is a pretty big bear. If you give me a little of the fur I can make a nice fur coat for you," Lila offered. Then maybe next time we could go hunting when the boys leave."

"Wait you'd do that! I didn't know you could work with fur."

"I can work with anything really. Erik didn't mention it but I actually was the one who put dust in that red cloth for Wood."

"Why did he lie about that then? He said it was from Atlas."

"I told Erik not to tell him. I didn't want your brother getting the wrong idea."

"Sounds more like you didn't want him to get the right idea," the young woods girl said with a sigh.

* * *

**Deep in the forest of Forever Fall.**

The sun, hidden behind layers of dark winter clouds, provided little light to the bands of hunters below. The second month of winter was the coldest. With most of the Grimm moving south towards Vacuan territory, the vast wilderness of Vale resembled a lifeless ocean of white covered in the wreckage of leveled trees. Out this far from the wall there weren't any foot prints or signs of life other than the naked and frozen trees of Forever Fall. You'd have to be crazy to wander into this waste. That or Atlesian.

"Shhh!" hushed the blond hunter quickly laying on the snowy ground and hiding himself under his white cloak. His friend, clad in red, hid behind a tree due to his lack of camouflage. "Gosh that's a big Ursa."

Wood, afraid to be spotted in his bright red woodsmen cloak, carefully peeked around the tree to see an Ursa about three meters tall with a few white spikes coming out of its spine.

"Sorry Erik but that's nothing," Wood whispered to his hunting partner.

"You kidding me. Look at that thing! The skull alone would fetch good silver in Atlas."

"Yeah, if it doesn't evaporate like the rest of it and what are you talking about? Have you even seen a big one? Maybe you should try coming out here in the summer like all the Woodsmen, before all the Grimm leave for the winter. This Ursa is nothing." Woody bragged as he tried to judge the distance to their prey.

"You just don't understand do you? The winter is the best time for hunting. It pits us against the cold for our very survival. It makes us feel one with nature as we hunt for food and trophies. In the summer there's no challenge. There's Grimm and game as far as the eye can see and not even the risk of freezing to death." The noble's list of complaints confused the woodsman. How anyone would like the cold over the warm easing air of spring was a mystery to him.

"I'm actually surprised you guys even care about that stuff. You northerners spend the whole year in your cities but for some reason, the worst season of them all has you all begging to go outside."

"Well, we nobles have to make up for all the time you Valisens spend outside your walls somehow. Ooh darn it. It's walking away." During their rambling the stray Ursa began to wonder off. With no obligation to eat, it was no doubt struck with boredom in this frozen wasteland, it probably hoped to find a creature nesting for the winter to torture. "Then again, we might get lucky. It could take us to something that won't disappear when we kill it. Maybe even something tasty."

"That or it'll take us to more Grimm. I have no problem hunting just one but if you get us in a fight with a pack of beowolfs that didn't leave for the winter I'll be pissed. That is, if we're not eaten alive."

"Oh calm down," Erik suggested as he got up, his plan to stroll a bit behind the beast and just follow its footsteps. "We're not stupid and I'm sure we can hold off anything we find until some of the other hunters come by. And really? Beowolfs? We can take on a pack of those weaklings. You have to chill down."

"Oh no problem there, I'm as chill as chill can be you winter loving nut," Wood complained under his breath.

All the hunters had spread out into small groups of two or three to cover more ground and not get in one another's way. In the event of a Grimm ambush though, someone would surely be close enough to hear the commotion and join the fray. Though, if the hunters could hear it then chances where the rest of the Grimm nearby could too.

They stayed a safe distance behind the Ursa so that they wouldn't be heard. Its back, covered in the hardened bone of most Grimm, was no target for either of their bows. They hoped for it to stop so they could aim for its exposed neck or heart. Until then, it would be a long wait.

"So how has it been in the noble district?" Wood asked. Trying to burn some time as they followed the footsteps of their prey. "You and Lila are still surrounded with love I presume?"

"Yeah our family still adores and pampers us but given you're tone I assume that's not the kind of love you're talking about." Erik commented. "It's a hard life, that of a noble's, but you learn to tune out all the fawning girls trying to marry you for your name."

Erik Huter, first in line to his family's wealth, was gifted not only with skills and titles but also with good looks. He was spoken off across town by adoring teenagers and aging shop women alike. He was the model of perfection to many and that made him the center of desire for the woman of Vale.

"You know Wood I wasn't born yesterday you know."

"Excuse me?"

"It's obvious. The way you handle yourself differently. The way you get quiet all of a sudden and the way you blush as red as your cloak around her all adds up. Its Lila isn't it?"

"I have no idea what you mean." Wood knew perfectly well what Erik was getting at. It had become something of a game between them, to deny on Wood's part or persist on Erik's, when it came to Wood's and Lila's fellings

"Don't play games with me Wood! I've known you've adored her since we were teenagers. Remember that time when we all went to the south beach to teach your sister how to swim? It wasn't hard to see how you were gawking at mine the whole time. Hell, it was like it was the first time you saw a girl in a bathing suit. It was awkward enough that she was barely wearing anything and some of the noble kids I knew were starring but to think my best friend was practically undressing my little sister with his eyes was awkward as heck!"

"For Grimm's sake Erik, you don't have to make me sound like I'm obsessed with her. Sure, I knew it was obvious over the years but I've proven more than once that I can chase other people."

"First off I didn't say obsessed, gawking at girls is normal, even if it's my sister I'm horrified to admit. Second, more than once is more than a stretch because there's only been one time and Kristina doesn't count!" Erik retorted as he brought up Woody's only "partner" to date. "She would have gone out with anyone back then and she has gone as far as to be rather floosy even these days. The bartender's slutty daughter doesn't count."

"Hey she's not a slut! She's just free spirited. You know you're one to talk Mr. Snow Angel. If Kristina is a slut then you're definitely the male version of that. Learned to ignore the fawning of girls my butt. Even if the jokes about Kris dating all of Vale were true then you've most surely dated all of Vale and Atlas."

"Come now Wood. You can't blame a guy for not wanting to waste his youth. Tell me Wood, have you ever heard of the term, Making the Four?"

"No but I'm sure it's tasteless."

"Uhg you are way too uptight. It's when you spend a night with one lass from every Kingdom. It's a rite of passage for anyone living in a port town."

"Hate to break it to you but everyone lives in a port town for the most part."

"That's why it's so easy!"

"If it's so easy then why haven't you finished it yet?"

"Well, his Majesty's blockades on the other kingdoms might be hampering things but I'm sure things will be easier when everyone signs peace with Atlas." And there it was, the one thing that Wood detested about his friend. The fact that despite the crimes his country had committed he was still loyal to the crown. "But I hate talking politics and we've strayed from the matter at hand."

"Oh god," Wood groaned picking up the aggressive tone of his hunting partner.

"You marrying my sister."

"Erik I'm telling you I have no interest in your...wait what?!"

"You heard me," Erik sighed. "The fact is that no one else wants to marry the daughter of a Viceroy known for having feeling for the non Atlesians in his land. Especially when she's half Valisien."

"Now wait just a moment!" Wood demanded in shock and confusion.

"My father has thought long and hard on this," Erik sighed. "Atlesian noble boys might find her beautiful but not enough to marry. For the most part nobles are pure bloods in that we don't marry outside of Atlas. While my father has married an Atlesian woman, my mother, she cannot call my sister her daughter."

Truth of the matter was Lila Huter was a bastard child. No one would know by Lila's appearance since all her traits were that of her fathers, pale skin and light hair, but the fact still stood that she was born and discovered a full year before his wife ever arrived in Vale. At the time only one woman ever came close to him.

"Ok I get the whole marry a Valisien thing but you lost me on the ME part! Erik I'm just a lumber jack. What future does a noble woman like Lila have with..?"

"A better one then we can offer her!" Erik yelled "Look, you like her right?"

"Erik I..."

"For Kingdom's sake. Do you like her or not," Erik insisted. Things got really silent As Wood realized there was only one right answer. His friend knew that any other would be a lie.

"Y-yes."

"Good, we'll finish this later. For now we have a Beowulf to hunt," he pointed out now that they could see the beast in the distance again. The large creature had found a broken tree whose sap was leaking out. After storms it was normal for some of the weaker trees to fall. Forever fall was famous for the sweet tree sap that was produced by its trees. The Grimm seemed to like this sap as well. "Let's sneak in close and..."

Erik was cut off by the fast moving arrow fired from just behind him. The arrow, accelerated by Gale dust, moved fast enough to not only hit the Grimm before it suspected a fired shot, but also pierced it's white skull. The arrow also contained burn, which reacted to the spark of the metal arrow head against the skull to create a small explosion inside the head of the creature causing it to fall to the ground after one hit.

Erik turned around to his friend, bow still transforming back into an axe.

"Oh come on, that was no fun. Anyone can just throw dust at the target. What's the sport in that?" the noble complained.

"What do you mean better than you can offer?!" Wood insisted.

"That's why you wasted half your dust on that shot. I already said we'd talk later."

"You don't just tell a guy he's to marry your sister and then change the subject like that!"

"Well there was a Beowulf right there man!"

"There was one you mean. Now, what do you mean better than you guys can offer? Even if the dowry was good, you understand your sister would be totally removed from noble life right? You're marrying her off to a peasant!"

"You'd rather she stay unmarried for the rest of her life?" Erik asked realizing there was no escaping the subject. "Or that we send her off as some rich noble's mistress. Everyone knows that she's not a pure blood. From the day she was born she was unwelcome, Wood. The only reason why she's treated well is because people know who her father is. At least out here with you she'd be loved."

"Does she even want to do this?!"

"I wouldn't know, she doesn't know yet?" Erik answered a bit embarrassed.

"She doesn't know! When were you gonna drop that bomb shell?!"

"My father asked me to tell her before we left her with you but I couldn't bring myself to."

"What do mean leave her with me?" Wood demanded.

"Well..."

"You got to be kidding me?" Wood knew where this was going and it pissed him off. "Erik, would I be right to believe you are leaving your sister here without telling her why?"

"Uhm..."

"…Then leaving it on me to tell her that her family is abandoning her."

"You know, when you say it that way you make us sound..."

"Like assholes?"

"Well I was gonna say inconsiderate but..."

"You're such an asshole! She's your sister! I have half the mind to..." just then they heard a series of loud booms coming from the direction of the sea. The two looked at one another in confusion. "Is that cannon fire?"

"Probably some military drill, the fleet loves their war games." Erik walked off not caring for the loudness. Rather, he cared more that the booming weapons would scare off all the animals in the woods.

"Maybe we should check it out," Wood suggested. "The shots seem close."

"Vale is in the middle of a bunch of hills and valleys. Sounds echo for miles. Those boats could be half way to Vacuo. "

"I still want to check it out. The sea is just three miles west of here."

"But the Beowulf...No!" As Erik looked back at the downed beast its body began to evaporate, its innards turning to red flakes resembling rose petals. "Why?! We had a plan Wood. Why did you have to be so ruff with it? Now we have nothing to show for it."

It was rare and extremely hard to do but it was possible to save a Grimm's mask. The exact anatomy of the Grimm was a mystery but their death had been studied in depth. Once the creature lost consciousness their body would suddenly become flammable. It wasn't flammable like oil or gas but something like paper. The only difference was that the slightest force could cause the body to burn. If done harshly a blade stroke was enough to cause this reaction. A careful hunter could slay the beast skillfully without sparking the dead body's reaction. Once one removed the mask from the body the risk of evaporation would be gone, at least for the mask.

This was extremely hard and there for the reason why most hunters had replicas made for their kills. Erik was not that type of hunter and preferred the real thing. Needless to say he did not approve of the use of accelerated, explosive arrows in hunting.

"You're really questioning it after you tossed your sister on me the way you did?" Wood questioned with a sigh.

"Oh don't pretend you're not happy," he argued while the last bits of the beast dissipated. "Let's just head west and see what this commotion is all about. If we're lucky we'll see an animal running away from the cannon fire on the way to The Bladed Coast."

The walk there was quiet, minus the cannon fire. At first, Wood had tried to pursue the previous subject with Erik but the man continued to blow him off. It angered Wood to no end that a girl like Lila would be abandoned by her family. Sure he had feelings for her but he knew there were better fates for a noble woman, even a bastard. Sure she wasn't a pure blood but her hair and skin said otherwise. The other Valisiens beyond the wall would never accept her.

The thunder of dust cannons continued to sound through the forest yet the two hunters never saw a single fearful Grimm cross their path. In fact, above they could see small flocks of Grimm crows flying in the direction of the thundering booms. It was all odd, small Grimm were usually easily scared. They weren't curious enough to want to watch a military exercise.

"They've been firing for a while now. What's it been, an hour now?" Wood had to ask. Their trip to the coast was harder than usual. A three mile hike was a short walk but even men in their condition were slowed by the deep snow.

"Maybe it's a big war game. Some of the admirals like to put on a good show," Erik explained.

"For an hour though. I mean I can see the exercise lasting that long but to be firing that many cannons for an hour straight seems like a waste of money for just a training exercise. Does Atlas have that much dust?"

"We do have a lot but you're right. This is strange. Wait," Erik said suddenly stopping and pointing to the sky. "Do you hear that?"

Wood kept silent to try and hear over the rolling thunder. There seemed to be a buzz of sorts coming closer and closer. The closer it came the more it sounded like two slightly different buzzes.

Just then, two low flying planes flew above the trees so fast that many of the weak winter branches snapped and rained down on the two men. A larger one fell from just above the duo that would surely have killed both the men if Erik hadn't casted his gale dust in time to blow both of them out of its wake.

"The hell were with those pilots? Is it even safe to fly that low?" Wood demanded of the Atlesian noble. The planes were small and fast. Their propeller engines had the roar of military engines.

"Hell if I know? My family's an army family. Flyboys are way too crazy for us," Erik explained, trying to clear his clothing and gear of the numerous twigs that had fallen when a steady beat of machine gun fire could be heard from the sky.

"Crazy enough to shoot at one another?!" Wood questioned, running east as fast as he could as the sound of thunder and engines intensified

"Wood, wait I have a bad feeling!"

"You're just now getting that?" he said, Erik trying his best to keep up with the forest raised man.

The pair got closer and closer to the sea. The stench of burning fuel and dust could be smelled in the air and black smoke could be seen in the distance.

When the boys finally existed the forest and made their way to the cliff sides of the Bladed Coast, the sight in front of them was no other than that of open war.

The sea was full of fire while large white ships continued their barrage on the incoming forces. Large towers of water rose from the sea as dust filled cannon shells collided with the blue. Above the fleet of white ships where countless fighters dueling in the sky as glowing tracer rounds lit up the dark and stormy winter storm coming in.

"Erik what is this?" Wood asked in worry and confusion.

"Looks like the royal fleet is being attacked," Erik guessed.

"Who's attacking?"

"I don't know, they're too far away. Most of the attackers' shots are just hitting the water," Erik quickly looked over the battlefield now with the mind of an officer's son. "Looks like the local fleet is trying to keep whoever is attacking out of the Bay of Vale. If I had to guess, one of the other kingdoms is trying to steal Vale from Atlas."

While the distant battle at sea raged on, a group of low flying planes skimmed the water, going south along the beach. They were so low that the planes were level to the two hunters on top of the costal cliff.

The planes, five in number, each had one propeller in the back. The front of this model was long and rounded into a pointy edge with two guns on either side and the wings stuck out to the side but where slanted forward for maneuverability. The design was really advanced for the time and it matched its all white paint scheme which was associated with the nation it came from.

"Why are Atlesian fighters over here?" Erick mumbled to himself, thinking they should be out helping the fleet, before the fighters swooped by. They were passing so close that he could see three black stripes on the left wing of the closest plane. The planes continued to fly at full speed towards the city until they disappeared behind a tree line in the distance. "No..."

"Erik, what's happening?" Wood demanded. Erick stood in horror of what was unraveling. He didn't want to accept reality but it was hard not to when one of the battle ships in the harbor exploded. About three miles away he and Wood could see another fleet turning into the bay from the north. This one carried the Atlesian flag as well, though unlike the one trying to defend the harbor. This flags white background and black emblem were reversed. These black-flagged ships opened fire with no mercy on the remaining defenders.

"Their fighting each other," Erik admitted ", my people are killing one another."

Wood could see that his friend was shocked but more important things mattered ", those planes flying into the city. What are they doing?"

"I-I don't know," the man stuttered watching his countrymen continue to kill one another in the sky and sea.

"Get yourself together Erik!" Wood yelled. "Are they going to attack the rest of the Atlesians in the city?"

"Like I said I don't know what's happening," Erik tried to explain.

Wood realized his friend was nothing but a stumbling fool in his current state and ran off.

"Where are you going?!" Erik called out.

"Our sisters are there!" Wood pointed out before continuing to dash ahead. He couldn't wait for Erik to come to his senses. He had to get back to Rachel and make sure she was ok.

* * *

**Vale**

Hilda von Drakenburg ran through the streets in horror as the sounds of artillery went off in the distance. War was just a few miles away from the port city yet only few understood what that meant.

Unlike the distant country side of Vale, the inner city was much more advanced. The streets were paved, telephone wires and street lights filled the avenues and an abundance of advertisements saw business to a number of restaurants, theaters and department stores. On any other day the early industrial city would have been filled by common people going to work or seeking thrills, but not today. They might have reserved tickets to some fancy opera in hopes of seeing a foreign movie star or made a reservation to have dinner with that special someone as local musicians played jazz and town favorite tunes, but that was all over.

The thunder like booms of dust cannons continued to fire and the people around Hilda simply talked to each other in confusion. Businessmen, nobles, and artists alike all stopped to curiously ask each other if there was supposed to be a thunderstorm that day. It seemed odd for winter.

Hilda continued to run, she wanted to tell people what was happening but she couldn't. Not after what she had done. If people knew to soon it would be the end of her. "Ahh!"

She'd been frightened by an automobile that had come around the corner too fast, She had barely seen it since the sky was still a little dim and dark clouds were filling the sky. The scare caused the girl to jump back and slip on a slushy patch of snow, falling back into more of it which stained her all white Atlesian, Academy uniform.

"Ms. are you ok?" the driver said in worry, fearing he had hit the girl.

The scared for her life blonde ignored the man and tried to figure out where she was. The town square was close so she hadn't made it far from the palace. The others were probably still after her.

A loud police whistle sounded off in the direction she had come from. "There she is!"

Four military police officers were coming for her, their white cloaks with their inner blue lining fluttering behind them. All of them had their swords drawn.

Hilda quickly made her way to her feet despite slipping twice more and scraping her knees. The academy uniform was stylish for an office or a classroom but it was unpractical to anyone who didn't have control of their aura.

The driver of the automobile realized the young girl was in pain. "Stop, your legs are hurt and I think I hit you!"

Despite the man's care for the political criminal it was all in vain. The girl stumbled, realizing she'd probably sprained or pulled something in her leg, before coming up with a solution to running.

"Give me the car!" she ordered. She pulled a small device out of her pocket with threatening intent. The device had a long hallow tube in the front and a round cylinder behind it that held what looked like six small lead pills. All of this was connected to a grip that could be held with one hand.

The driver laughed with doubt of the devices authenticity, having seen similar things in toy shops. Kids liked to imagine what it would be like to fight with the weapon of the future. The man's laughter ended and the general panic of the crowd around them began when the girl pulled the trigger and one of the lead pills shot out at incredible speed as a loud crack sounded off before hitting and sparking the ground just beside his feet.

The man's body took a moment to register what he had only heard of in newspapers and in the radio. When the thought of danger finally reached his feet he quickly ran for his life.

The device was what some people were calling a hand gun. It was like the ones used on big ships and fighter planes but small enough that it could fit in a person's hand. Though the technology needed to make the weapon had been around for some 80 to 100 years, there had never been a reason to make one. Hand guns and most rifles could not propel a bullet fast enough to kill a Grimm in a single shot. A sword was big enough to be filled with enough dust to kill a grim but bullets were too small to be enchanted effectively. The process to make enchanted bullets was really advanced and hard to do. Without an industry for such a weapon the hand gun would be useless on Grimm. As of now it would only work on people who didn't know how to use their aura. A weapon considered as useless to most.

The crowed scattered in fear as the police officers continued to run after her, no doubt members of the town guard knew how to use their aura to some effectiveness. The girl jumped into the car seat and tried her best to get the car moving. She'd only driven in the passenger seat her entire life till now since Atlesian laws prohibited driving till the age of eighteen. The seventeen year old would have to manage on what she'd seen second hand.

She shifted the gear into first knowing that was the first step and gently released the clutch when stepping on the gas. With some miracle she'd gotten the car moving and began to shift up the gears to gain speed. Civilians who had no idea what was going on where still making their ways around the busy district, staring at this car that was being driven erratically down the street at a frightening speed.

Hilda kept driving for some ten blocks before the unmistakable sound of airplanes roared overhead. Above was a low flying squadron of Atlesian fighters dropping what looked like bombs. Hilda had known this would happen for some hours now but she had hoped she could have gone to safety before it started. The crowded streets broke into horror thinking they were dropping bombs but there were no explosions, just streams of high rising green smoke. The real danger had yet to come.

Distracted by the planes and smoke, Hilda didn't notice a middle aged business woman crossing the street. Not wanting to kill another person today, she quickly turned to dodge her but not without hitting one of the light posts that illuminated the street.

Sparks of electricity shot from the post's base causing the fragile, turn of the century electrical system to stutter. The nearby store lights flickered and the stop lights went out of whack down the street causing another accident.

Hilda, her head shaking from the collision, managed to open the door of the car and drag herself out. She crawled to the wall of the nearby store and tried to use it to get back up to her feet. Between the most certain concussion of the accident and the probably torn muscle in her leg, it was impossible to get up now.

The guards were catching up. She could her the shrill of their whistles despite her consciousness fading in and out. They were going to capture her and kill her for what she had done in the palace. Them or the other Atlesians taking advantage of her act of loyalty.

Before the guards reached her the sound of storm sirens filled the city, overlapping the panicked screams that went along with them. Those sirens were saved for hurricanes and tsunamis. Neither of those where what was about to happen but those warnings were the best the people could get. Hopefully the shelters would save some people.

"Are you ok miss?" a teenage boy asked of Hilda. He had dark skin and wore a uniform similar to that of an elevator attendant. Most notable of his features were the two rounded fluffy ears atop his head in addition to his human ones.

"Please, help me..."Hilda asked as she lost grasp of what was happening around her. Within the darkness of her dreams she could have sworn she remembered being carried away through clouds of thick green.

**Skies above Vale, about fifteen minutes from target**

"Ok, scout fighters have marked the targets with green smoke. Remember, only drop the bombs where you see smoke," a voice said over the radio of a large but cramped plane, one of some forty, that was flying to Vale from Atlas.

"I don't think we're stupid enough to drop bombs everywhere. We've only been briefed a hundred times in the past day," an experienced airmen complained to the female pilot next to him.

"The admiral's just freaked out since things are a little rough in the port. Apparently the local noble's fleet is putting up a big fight. He just wants everything to go well on our end," the woman had been flying missions since she joined the Academy some seven years ago. Since it was a time of peace, the most she had ever done was fly missions over Grimm infested land. At the age of eighteen her first mission ended without a hitch and it had been that way for ten years. She doubted anything could change that.

"You're not the least bit phased by what we're doing Mel?" her co-piolet asked.

"No Fin. Our job is just to drop bombs where they tell us. That's it," Mel responded.

"You don't care at all where the bombs are landing? These are people we're dropping on, not Grimm," The younger pilot pointed out.

"It'll be fine, that's why we're using the smoke kid. We only drop bombs if our spotter sees smoke. Right Kiddo?" she called to one of the crew members behind her.

"Yes Mam!" another young crew member answered. This boy sat over a telescope built into the plane. This device was meant to help guess where the bombs were going to land. The bombs were free fall so there was no real way of knowing where each would land. Each plane carried ten to thirty depending on the size of the bombs. Each was filled with assorted types of dust. Some planes carried Electric and some carried ice. All were mixed with some burn dust to propel the effects.

"Hey you better not mess up. Everyone is following your lead," Fin shouted back trying to be heard over the planes four large propeller engines. The way a bomber wing worked revolved around a lead plane. This bomber would lead all the others to the target and tell all the others when to drop their bombs.

"I promise I won't mess up guys," he assured them. All he had to do was look through the telescope and tell them when they were close to the smoke. After that they would drop the bombs and go home. Back to the comforting breeze of Atlas.

"Ok, we have about ten minutes. Tell Scrubs and the girls to check the guns. The admiral says they have air superiority but I don't want to take chances," Mel ordered of the spotter to which he obliged.

The boy practically had to crawl to get further into the back of the plane. The ceiling was low and the walls were cramped. Everywhere were wires, tools and other supplies necessary to keep a crew in the sky for some few hours. After passing a radio room about the size of an outhouse he made his way to the bomb bay. Bombs were suspended on hooks on either side with a small bridge to get over the bomb bay doors below. He nervously made his way across knowing he was walking between some five thousand pounds of volatile dust. With some perseverance he made his way across.

"Hey Fritz, wert's up," a rather quirky fellow with a rough accent asked. He was tall for a bomber crewmen and muscular. Both could be noticed despite the low ceiling and few layers of leather and fur required to handle flying this high in a plane with open windows for side guns.

"Scrubs just move, I have to check up on the girls. Mel says she wants the guns fully loaded just in case. I have to make sure their doing ok," Fritz said a bit annoyed that the man was playfully blocking his way.

"We're one step ahead of you Fritz," a girl just older then him said. This blonde pony tailed woman was the older sister type. She got along with everyone and looked after them too. Fritz hadn't noticed her standing behind the brute. She was readying the gun on the left side of the plane when Scrubs was readying the right.

"Thanks Jill, anything you can do about this big ogre between me and Rye," Fritz asked, still having to check on the last member on the rear gun.

"Yeah no problem little guy," she answered making a joke of his size. He was short for his age. He still had trouble getting around the cramped bomber but far less than anyone else. When the Academy chose which branch he'd serve in most of his teachers immediately thought he'd be perfect for the tight spaced flying coffin. Despite his fear of heights.

Jill grabbed the harness that held Scrubs to the wall of the plane. The bomber was too cramped to wear parachutes all the time so they had harnesses for emergencies. Jill then tightened the man's harness until he was stuck against the wall.

"De heck ye doin' Jill, stop being a betch!"

"Yeah yeah big guy, be mad all you want. Honestly there's no other way he's getting passed you big boy," She joked with a laugh. "Okay Fritz, you can go see Rye now. Make it quick or the captain will throw you out the window for missing our drop."

"I will Jill, thanks a lot. Oh and sorry Scrubs. I'll be sure to be quick so we can untie you from the wall."

"You betta be you brat," Scrubs pretended to be angry but it was hard to. They'd all flown some fifteen missions together now and they were more or less a family.

While it hadn't been necessary to crawl through the plane before, back here it definitely was. The ceiling was only three feet high in the rear. It had to be or the plane would be too back heavy. Attached to the walls were cases full of bullets. The machine guns on all sides of the plane were just gunpowder and lead. None of them had dust which meant you needed a lot of them to take anything out. That was ok since the guns could shoot some hundred rounds a second. Perfect for any small flying grim that might get in the way of things.

"Hey Fritz what's up?" another crew member asked.

"Mel just asked me to check on you guys. You doing ok alone back here?" he asked a bit worried for the girl. He'd been that way since she was assigned with them some ten missions ago. She was an Academy student as well. Destined to be one of Atlas' officers after her studies. She was young, only sixteen, and the smallest. Mel had decided to shove her in the back of the plane for that reason. Since they were bombing Grimm most days, she wouldn't be in anyone's way. Not to mention her size made her literally the best fit for this position. It also made her the loneliest since no one else but Fritz could get back there.

"I'm ok, really you shouldn't worry so much. Nothing ever happens back here," she assured him.

"Yeah I guess you're right," he'd never admit it but he had developed something of a sister complex for the girl. He couldn't help but worry.

"Ok, well if you're ok then I'll get back to Mel," he said with a sigh.

"Fritz just one moment," she said grabbing his boot before he could crawl any further. "Are you ok with this?"

"With what?" he said avoiding the subject.

"You realize we're bombing people right?" That was the reality of this mission. They weren't killing Grimm but everyone was trying their best to act like they were. No one had done something like this before in recent history.

"Yeah but for good reason," he argued. "It's time to stop living under nobles. The new king promised us a world of equality. This is where we start."

"By killing everyone who doesn't agree? What do you think is going to happen when this is all over?"

"We'll live lives normally. We won't be limited by our blood. We'll be able to do anything."

"And what of the nobles who our new king wishes to punish? What of their children? They don't get a say. What of all the Faunus people? They practically don't get to have a life!"

"Stop it Rye, you shouldn't be saying those things."

"What happened to freedom and equality? Even the nobles let us say whatever we wanted!"

"You done kid? Mel says she sees the shore. We're almost there!" Scrubs called out.

"I need to go," Fritz responded a bit annoyed of his friend's naiveté. He assumed she'd understand when she saw the world that the new Atlas would make for them.

He quickly made his way up to the front of the plane. The entire time he heard booms coming from below them.

"What's that noise?" he asked of Mel when he got to the front.

"It's called Flak. People shoot it into the sky and it shoots pieces of metal everywhere. It makes it hard for planes to get through it alive. The admiral is fighting below us. I think all his planes our distracting Vale's flak guns. Don't worry about it Fritz," Mel assured him though feeling doubt.

"If you want to see what's going on go ahead and use your scope," Fin suggested.

Fritz did so. He had to do so anyway since they'd be dropping their payload soon. They were pretty high up but he could still make out that the Admirals ships were winning. His fleet had five battle ships, huge boats with guns that could shoot miles away. The fleet defending Vale only had a few frigates. Dangerous ships still but nothing against the admiral's battleships and other vessels. The man's fleet was the same one that had taken Vale, years ago. They all knew what it was like to fight unlike the guards that had been posted there since.

Some of the enemy ships began to shoot up blue smoke. They had sent a message out to Vale's guards that any ship that did so would be spared. Most of the Atlesian guards in Vale were just commoners. The new king had nothing against them.

When the last ship released its blue smoke the flak and cannon fire ended. The New king's ship made their way to the harbor.

"Looks like the admiral won!" Fritz said in glee.

"No surprise there, the man's attacked this port before," Fin added a bit joyful himself. Mel was quiet though. Something else had her attention.

"Fritz can you bring your binoculars up here?" She said with a bit of worry. The boy didn't question the order and grabbed his binoculars with haste.

"Use those and look towards the sun, I thought I saw something a moment ago but now it's too bright."

Fritz did so but to know surprise had the same problem. The sun was too bright. He struggled to adjust his eyes to the brightness but before he could do so he heard a loud blast to his left.

The bomber next to them was being ripped apart from bullet fire and the fuel in its wings had caught flame. The explosion caused a second, igniting all the dust bombs in its bomb bay sending bursts of fire, ice and electricity in all directions.

"Shit!" Mel said before grabbing her radio. "Sky to Water, Sky to Water! Send up your fighters! Vale still has planes!"

A second later a group of six fighters came into view from the direction of the sun. The squadron had combined their fire on the one bomber and had been lucky enough to take one down with their surprise attack.

Mel turned on the planes PA and radio to the rest of the air fleet. "Everyone stay on us and don't get separated. If you do they'll pick you off. Have all your gunners shoot at them to keep them away. The fleet's planes will be here in two minutes. Just stay alive.

From the back of the plane, Fritz could hear the frantic noises of gun fire. No doubt his friends where firing on the enemy.

"Fritz get on your scope! Are we over the city yet?!" Mel demanded.

The boy had to come to his senses still but he did so. He looked through the scope and saw what had to be the cities Harbor.

"Yeah, I see buildings and boats, we're over the port!" He yelled over the noise of bullets and engines.

"Do you see the Green smoke? We can't bomb the palace and the guard courter if we can't see the smoke!"

The whole point of this mission was to rid the town guard of its supplies so that the nobles couldn't fight back. If they destroyed the palace they would lose most of their weapons and officials. Planes had flown through the city just before to mark these places. All they had to do was drop their loads there. According to their briefing the larger guard posts and palace where all close. There should have been one cluster of green smoke.

"Mel?!"

The woman was too busy trying to talk to the other pilots over the radio to answer.

"What is it kid?!" Fin answered while trying to help fly the plane.

"The smoke isn't in one spot. It's all over the middle of the city!"

"Then tell us when we're in the middle then!"

"But I don't know where the palace is!" just then another bomber exploded. This time it had taken a direct hit to its bomb bay from a flak gun. Apparently the town's militia wanted to fight down below and was shooting up. The exploding ball of fire and ice went out of control and hit the plane next to it causing another explosion.

"Fritz if we don't drop the bombs on this run we have to fly over this city again. More of us die, just tell us where to drop!"

Scared for the lives of his friends and fellow airmen he looked and looked but there was no one good place to drop. The smoke was everywhere. If the bombs fell on the wrong spot it would be genocide for anyone below them but if he didn't give the order soon it would be the end of all of them.

"Drop the bombs…" he muttered in defeat.

"What?!"

"Drop them now!" Fin heard the order and pulled the bomb lever between him and Mel. Mel took this as the order to drop and told the entire Air fleet to do so too.

Before Fritz could see the result of his order the back of the plane shook angrily.

"The hell was that?" Fin demanded.

"I don't know it came from the back!"

"Get back there and check on it, the rudder isn't working either now," Fritz had to go back since the PA could only be used in the front of the plane. The speakers were heavy enough and the engineers couldn't spare any more weight for more microphones when they needed to be carrying bombs.

"The rudder? Rye!" Fritz rushed back, slipping when the plane shook again. He could hear Scrubs and Mel screaming. "Guys?!"

He picked up his pace but stopped when he saw that the bomb bay doors were still open. Something had caused the doors to latch open. The only thing between Fritz and 10,000 feet of death was a railess, tiny, two feet wide aluminum bridge. He hugged the walkway, shimmying across as the plane continued to shake. He'd made it halfway across when the city below lit on fire. The bombs had finally landed, carpet bombing the city center with no discrimination. A moment later the rolling sounds of explosions were heard. Surely they drowned out the screams of the people they had killed.

There was no time to think on this though. If they hadn't dropped the bombs they would have had to make another run and surely more pilots would die. Fritz had to think about his friends. To his dismay when he arrived on the other side of the bridge, the screams had ended.

Calling out the names of his friends in desperation he continued through the last tight compartment. Instead of what should have been a cramped hall with two girls and a lumbering brute, there stood a giant feathered face, eating away at the remains of something that just moments ago was his family.

The image in front of him was nauseating and tearing away at his heart and sanity.

"Ne, ne, ne, ne…" he repeated mindlessly in horror as the beast continued to rip apart the corpse and plane. The nightmare wouldn't leave him despite his attempts to suppress it. The fear and sorrow built up until in tears he frightfully screamed ", NEVERMORE!"

He rushed back the way he came as fast as he could, continuing to shout hoping somehow he would heard by those who had yet to die.

"A Grim! Nevermore, it's a Nevermore!" he cried as the monster sensed his fear and turned towards him with eyes of red, ripping through the fuselage and causing the entire back of the plane to rip from the front.

Unstable, the airship began to spin and tumble downward causing Fritz to slide and roll through the plane, painfully hitting everything possible as the forces of gravity took over. Before he fell to the cockpit, the plane had picked up enough acceleration to slow his fall. The laws of physics, as twisted as they seemed now in a plane tumbling to the ground from 10,000 feet, had saved is live from a broken spine, shatter across the front console. In pain he managed to look around and see that the pilots were gone and only one of the front parachutes remained. Fritz grinned with some hope that maybe his friends had bailed out the second the plane started falling apart.

Throbbing in every bone in his body he reached out to the last parachute, putting it on and making his way to the open emergency exit. Before he put his hand on the doorway he heard the shrilling call of the Nevermore as it ripped its self through the bomb bay, it's beak just inches away from fritz.

"No! Go away! Leave me!" he screamed desperately, shaking in fear. To this the bird reacted in kind with increased vigor, attracted to his souls anguish. The door was now too dangerous with the blood thirsty bird in the way and he had nothing to break the front window of the plane. He had to be quick. The plane was moving so fast now that he had to grip onto the control stick to avoid flying back into the jaws of the bird. Time was ticking as they had to be more than halfway down by this point and he'd need 3500 feet of air to safely parachute down at this speed.

Then he tasted the disgusting taste of engine fuel dripping into his mouth. He looked closer and the Nevermore had ruptured one of the fuel lines behind it and gallons of gasoline were spraying onto its body. An idea came to mind that most certainly spelled death. But at the moment it was his only chance.

Fritz grabbed the flare gun on his belt, meant for signaling for help if he were stranded on the ground, fired it onto the birds exposed and soaked neck. Its feathers caught a flame and the liquid fire continued to ignite up to the bird's wings. He quickly covered his face before the fuel line caught a flame and the wings of the plane, filled with fuel, exploded. The Nevermore cooked from both sides as the forces of the blast ripped and pushed it apart. Its forehead pushed against the poor boy, breaking the glass and sending him out of the burning fireball, before the wind and its resistance tossed him to the side. The last thing he saw was the ball of hell flying by him before he pulled the cable of his chute, the force of it pulling him against the wind and causing him to pass out.

The world went dark while he felt the warmth of explosives and fuel.

**Oh my god I'm shaking after reading this again. I know it's not a real danger but just imagine the human experience of having something big that wants nothing more than to devour you alive in your wake. It sends shivers down my spine thinking of what people in WWII must have felt, stranded in the pacific hoping help would come before sharks. Or the feeling when roman soldiers were told to march against the armored elephants of Carthage. **

**Just imagine if everyone on your block were given pointy sticks and this giant force was coming at you from down the street. It terrifies me but that's history. The world of Remnant would be no stranger to this in a world just as, if not more dangerous than ours. **

**This is my beginning of the Great War. It happened 80 years before RWBY so I'm assuming it would have had similarities to our WWII as far as tech goes. Then again we know from the wiki and the statues that swords were used. That's why I've made the notes regarding guns that I have. **

**I want this to reference various points of our history but for the most part be its own thing. If something sounds like the French revolution then it's probably a reference to it. Just like much of this sounds like WWII. **

**If anyone has suggestions please leave them in the reviews. In general please review, fav, or subscribe. Doing so not only helps me but makes it so you can easily get updates and know when another chapter is out. I want to hear from everyone. If something doesn't make sense just ask and if something is cool I want to know. Again thanks for reading. **

I also have a Code Geass Fanfic which might be interesting to anyone who likes the series and wants to know what kind of chaos can still happen after its ending. In that light I have a Steins;Gate fic as well. It pics up right after the show and replaces the movie. If you've gotten to this point you know I'm no Stanger to a dark story but it still retains the lite spirit of the original characters while delving into the more troubled ones.

**Please, I'd love to hear from all of you with any hope, with minor changes I'd like to make this an original story someday since it's so distant from RWBY present. Until then I'll see you next time here. **


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